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We Respond to Questions About the House

Thanks for all of your comments and questions. Here are our answers to specific questions that seem to be causing confusion.

1. Why does the ground floor have to be enclosed?

A couple of readers, including Joy, suggested we eliminate the walls and garage doors to create a greater sense of openness.

We considered that idea, but we prefer the privacy and security of having walls. That way, we can protect our cars from the elements and theft. The ground floor can’t be used for living space in any case, according to Florida laws and local zoning ordinance. But it can be used for storage. We plan on keeping our bikes, kayaks, garden equipment and other stuff in that space.

2. Have you checked to see if it is even legal or insurable that way?

Pmartillo asked this about having a closed-in lower level. And, yes, it is legal and insurable to have a closed-in lower level, that is, as long as there are openings so that a potential surge of water (from intense rains or coastal flooding) could flow into the space, and then out again. The idea is that the ground floor would bear the brunt of a storm, and the house would stay structurally intact.

3. Can you move the garage entrance to the side of the house?

Brett asked this. Unfortunately, we can’t. The lot is only 70 feet wide, and we simply don’t have room to do so.

4. Can you raise the ground level in your front yard and have a path to get you to the first floor?

It’s an intriguing idea, but it’s not permitted in our neighborhood. Although hurricanes are obviously the biggest issue, zoning laws also take into account the intense rains that fall on Anna Maria, especially in the summer months. Building up most of the lot would impede drainage.

5. Speaking of the elevator, are you concerned about wheelchair access or merely creaking knees?

Thanks for answering some of these questions. I’ve been following the blog for a while now and have been surprised by some of the hostile questions and comments you all have been receiving. That said, it’s great that you’ve been able to take it all in stride and even engage commenters. Good luck on getting the house that YOU want.

OK, so tell me how you propose to allow water to flow in and out of that ground floor area?
Ordinarily, Lattice or some other very permeable material is used under beach front houses.
I wish I could show you pictures of my friends lower level after a hurricane in Key Largo-they ended up with 6 feet of stagnant water trapped in their “legal enclosure” and rotting everything. Shorting out the power was fun too.

Congratulations on your personal hard work and success, from which you have earned the resources necessary to build a lovely home for your family reunions, vacations, and retirement. Bravo.

It’s astonishing the way the envious begrudge you your desire and right to crane your neck for a widow’s walk view of the gulf, as your neighbors are already doing, as demonstrated by your photo in your early ‘cherry picker’ posting. The greatest environmental harm from building so tall would be the global warming resultant from the self-righteous and envious fuming and fulmination resultant therefrom.

It’s astonishing that somehow you should be shamed into building a home that’s too small to accomodate your children and their children when they come to visit.

Don’t allow those who are clucking over the size and height of your home to dissuade you from building according to your needs and desires, within the limits established by the rule of law as expressed by your legally represented officials. Even the threat of vandalism by rule-of-mob haters should not deter you.

There’s a term for the more modest, shabby, or squat homes that may remain in your neighborhood: teardowns.

Lose the spiral staircase. It’s just a mode of entry for thieves and vandals to that second floor.

If you still need to reduce your square footage, consider pushing back the front wall on the left side, too. The two walk-in closets can each lose a foot of depth, have wider doors, and still have nearly as much hanging space for clothes. Each of those two left bedrooms can lose some space(the one facing the street could lose most) and you could have an even friendlier front elevation, for those who are frightened and/or enraged by what’s been proposed so far. Instead of porch on that side, you may want to consider a bit of roof over the first floor area exposed by pushing back that wall. Pushing that wall back would further mitigate that slab-faced appearance of three(gasp) whole storeys’ worth of wall looming over the scuttling proles below.

So as to maximize space and the feeling of spaciousness, and to minimize awkwardness, consider greater use of pocket doors vs. those swinging doors, as seen for example, in the laundry room, the pantries, and some bedroom applications. Where pocket doors are too problematic or expensive, consider machine shed-style doors that slide over the face of the wall adjacent to the opening.

Your kitchen work triangle between stovetop, fridge and sink seems to be huge. Consider cheating the sink a foot or so closer to the action by deepening the counter in which it’s located.

I’m enjoying your blog so much more now that you are engaging readers a bit more. Also, sounds like we are up to speed on the timeline! Here’s hoping this will help deflect some of the more hostile comments you’ve been receiving!

I wish I could show you pictures of my friends lower level after a hurricane in Key Largo-they ended up with 6 feet of stagnant water trapped in their “legal enclosure” and rotting everything. Shorting out the power was fun too.

— Posted by pmartillo

THIS IS WHY the ground level in our beach community is required to be breakaway. In the one section of ours that is enclosed for storage (legally) we had to have a 12 inch square opening every 5 feet to allow water to go through. This was also the only way we could get federal flood insurance.

I think one way to ensure you have creaky limbs and can’t move upstairs as you age, is to have an elevator! Seriously, the exercise is essential and critical right to your death bed! I work with 85 year olds who have had strokes who still use stairs, and could afford otherwise but need to keep moving. Do you really want to be one of those obese people driving around Disneyland with a rented scooter? You don’t have to be.

Lest you think the naysayers are all ‘jealous’ according to Dave Molson, I assure you THAT is not what the critiques are about at all. Here in the Northwest at least, many many many of us have much more expensive second homes, and none look like monsters or overwrought to impress the neighbours by size. Its a matter of taste and values, and respect for one’s neighbours. More is not better. “Rights” has nothing to do with it. Dave’s mentality is the reason Florida is in so many ways so godawful ugly, each person dividing up “their” rightful legal piece of the pie, and nothing communal, nothing left for nature, nothing left for aethetics.

Hear, hear, to post #4 by Dave Monson. People on here, without looking at the post in april wherein Allison showed some of the other homes on the Island, decided this was some out of place monstrosity.

As I’ve said repeatedly, build to the legal height; if your neighbors don’t like it, they can build to the legal height. You’ve worked hard and earned the right to this property, and “neighbors keying your car” as one poster speculated, shouldn’t deter you.

The same people who are saying your house is too big are the folks who’d give their left arms for a 1200 square foot coop on the UWS.

hi, i have a question regarding townhouse/duplex houses.
what’s the best style of staircase that would fit that type of house, townhouse that is?
im thinking of buying this house but the problem is its narrow staircase about 1-2 feet wide. i know i should renovate it because it looks awfully unappealing.what kind of stairs suits it best?and how much would it cost me for only one floor staircase?thanks and im looking forward to your response… i really need advice right now.

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They've found an idyllic tiny town in Florida, they've bought a piece of land and now Paul B. Brown and Alison Davis are setting out to build their dream house. How hard can it be, they wonder, even though they live 1,500 miles away, they've never built a home before and they don't know anything about architects, builders, local zoning laws or financing? On this blog for Great Homes, they recount their successes and failures and will chronicle their adventures to come.